How to build communities for brands

People are turning to social media to experience a feeling of connection and community that has been largely lacking in the real world at a time when they feel more alone than ever before. If you've used Twitter in the last year, you'll know that connection can take many forms: sometimes it's just to share something witty, sometimes it's to weigh in on a hot take. People want to feel like they are a part of something new, and social media provides companies with a wonderful chance to foster a feeling of community around their product or service.

So, how does a company foster a feeling of community on social media while still quietly selling its product or service without alienating its target audience? If you follow the following techniques, it's both extremely tough and unexpectedly simple (I believe that's called a paradox?).

Speak to your audience rather than at them.

People do not actively watch content they perceive as a commercial pitch. As a company on social media, your primary goal is to sell a product or service, while establishing a feeling of community around your brand allows you to be a part of the conversation. This is the basic part since it's as simple as publishing and authoring content with a voice that makes your brand sound like a genuine person.

A good rule of thumb to follow here is to put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. What type of content or voice from your brand would you like to hear if you were them? What is essential to your audience and how do they communicate on social media? Nobody will like talking to a stranger who attempts to sell them life insurance, but they will welcome talks about common interests and genuine inquiries about what’s important to them. It's not an overt advertisement for your company, but making people feel heard on social media might be the difference between a product they've never engaged with online and one that made them feel heard and a part of a community.

Engagement Rewards

If a consumer deliberately takes the time to make a remark or otherwise interact with your company on social media, responding quickly, accurately, and sociably indicates that your brand values their time and effort. According to Harvard research, when someone receives a like, remark, or share on social media, their brain produces little levels of dopamine. As a company, social media gives the ideal platform for creating these subconscious injections of excitement with both current and potential customers simply by doing the work and reciprocating conversations. Furthermore, you can bring your audience to your dedicated community where they can sign up and avail these rewards and benefits. Pensil provides a gamified experience to community members by assigning points on each interaction and later can be redeemed against community rewards

Extend Yourself

Many people believes that community management is just creating content and then sitting back and watching the engagements flow in. But they completely wrong in this situation. Posting well-designed, on-voice material is only the first step in becoming a successful community manager or building community. If you take the time to accomplish the following, you'll discover that your community members will not only increase, but you'll also create an invaluable feeling of community and commitment to your company, which will convert into bottom-line gains.

• Outbound involvement is important. Every day, conversations about your company and sector take place on social media, but you must know where to look for them. We employ social listening technologies to uncover these conversations, and we regularly participate in them despite the fact that our client has never been tagged.
• Find your rock stars. Most accounts will have individuals who regularly comment on and interact with your material. Make an extra effort to make them feel heard and valued. They will continue to promote your company on community & social media, and others will witness these conversations and realize how much you respect your consumers.
• When possible, bring items from the community into the real world. Doing events online & offline sparks great conversation and strengthen community network

Cultivating a sense of community around your brand makes all the difference. These habits may appear little, but at a time when people desire connection and community more than ever, they add up to have a significant influence. Brands have a fantastic chance to be the leaders of an ongoing dialogue about subjects important to their product or service, and if they participate in those conversations with their audience effectively, the sky is truly the limit.

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